1

______________________________
] Lisa Kemmerer earned a Masters Degree in 1heology rom larard Diinity
School and her PhD in Philosophy rom Uniersity o Glasgow, Scotland.
Currently, she is a Lecturer at Montana State Uniersity, Billings. L-mail:
lkemmerermsubillings.edu

.vivat iberatiov Pbito.ob, ava Potic, ]ovrvat, Volume II, Issue 2, 2004, pp. 1-20.
Lisa Kemmerer, PhD.



HUN1ING 1RADI1ION: 1reaties, Law, and
Subsistence Killing

Lisa Kemmerer]

Abstract
1bi. aer etore. .vb.i.tevce traaitiov. tbat evtait /ittivg
vovbvvav avivat. avovg ivaigevov. eote. iv ^ortb .verica. v tigbt of
bi.toric traaitiov, covtevorar, ractice, ava tbe treatie. tbrovgb rbicb tbe.e
riritege. are gvaravteea, cbattevge tbe aroriateve.. of tar. ervittivg tbe
covtivvavce of .vb.i.tevce ractice..
begiv ritb a brief orerrier of tbe .iritvat etbic. bebiva .vb.i.tevce
traaitiov., tbev offer a covcrete eavte frov !a.bivgtov tate, ivctvaivg
treatie., tegat i..ve., ava covrt rvtivg.. vet etvciaate tbe veavivg of
traaitiov, ava covare covtevorar, tife.t,te. ava ractice. ritb traaitiovat
ra,.. ivatt,, cov.iaer rbetber or vot cvrrevt bvvtivg, fi.bivg, gatberivg, ava
traivg ovgbt to be rotectea vvaer tbe cavo, of traaitiovat actiritie..


Introduction
1erv.: art, ivvigravt., av,vat.
Peoples already liing in the Americas were mistakenly
reerred to as Indians` by Luropean settlers. Since that time a series
o other names hae been applied: American Indian, Amerindians,
lirst Nations, Natie Americans, and Larly immigrants. It is
currently popular to reer to these arious peoples as natie,` but
they are no more natie` than they are Indian.`
Natie` suggests that these peoples were originally rom
American. But studies indicate that human beings migrated to the
Americas rom Asia into what is now Alaska, then spread south and
east across the continent ,Matthews 21,. Some groups o early
immigrants settled in their accustomed territories comparatiely
recently: the Naajo migrated to the Southwest just beore the irst
Luropeans arried, somewhere between 1200 and 1400 ACL ,Brown
1991: 19,.
i
1he term natie` is also pregnant with implications
,especially with regard to land use,, it suggests that these people hold
some special title to the land because they hae always been here.
But they are also immigrants, and hae long battled or land among
themseles.
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Because the term natie` is a misnomer, and because it is
laden with controersial implications o ownership, I choose to use
the term early immigrants,` or early immigrants in North
America,` abbreiated as LINA. Similarly, I use the term anymal`
to reer to all animals excluding ovo .aiev.. Because people are
mammals, it is incorrect to use the term animal` as i it reerred only
to otber species, excluding human beings. In philosophy, as in many
ields, it is important to be as precise as possible with language. lor
this reason, I use the term anymal` to reer to av, animal ,av,mal,
that is not ovo .aiev..

barea !itatife tbic
1hough the many distinct groups o people who lied in
North America prior to Luropean inasion used a ariety o hunting
methods in search o a plethora o wildlie across aried landscapes,
early immigrants in North America shared a core wildlie ethic
,Schmidt 44-48,. 1hough all points o this ethic may not hae been
true or all LINA, most o them will be true or the ast majority o
early immigrants. lor the purposes o this paper, I present eight
important elements o this ancient ethic:
Correct behaior was modeled on ancestral examples.`
,Schmidt 102,. Behaiors reached back across the centuries,
patterned ater what had come beore.
Religion` was indistinct rom daily lie. Spirituality was a way
o experiencing lie,` eery act had religious signiicance ,Schmidt
46, 45,.
1here was no diision between subject and object, between
landscape and people` ,Kwiatkowska 199: 26,. luman
communities were iewed as just one aspect o an ongoing sacred
lie that encompassed the entire cosmos, people maintained a
mystical identiication with. the animals and plants that
sustained their lies` ,Schmidt 6,. Both a social and spiritual
relationship existed between people and wildlie ,Gill 1983: 121,.
Anymals contained this spiritual power, and were thought to
possess consciousness, will, and other capacities... superior to
those o humans" ,larrod 198: 159,. Anymals were seen as
equal to, i not more powerul than` human beings, not just
physically, but spiritually ,Preece 166,. Larly immigrants
understood anymals as guides and teachers,` as powerul sacred
beings who could communicate with people ,Brown 1991: 124,
119,.
Anymals, plants, and the natural world were endowed with
spirits and with spiritually based power` ,R. Nelson, Make 228,.
All o nature was illed with a mysterious yet real power, and was
potentially dangerous ,Lredoes xi,. Lack o respect or anymals
was likely to result in staration because anymals were in control
o their own destiny, and might leae the area i people ailed to
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treat them with respect. ,leinup-Riordan 544,. Consequently,
people were dependent on harmonious relations with anymals,
and they associated with these powerul personalities a. .iritvat
orer. ,VanStone 65,. lor historic LINA, Nature is not
goerned by God, nature i. God` ,R. Nelson, Passage`,.
\ildlie was kin ,McLuhan 191: 56, 99,, other liing creatures
were reerred to as siblings and grandparents, and they were
iewed as part o the same great amily to which human beings
belonged ,Matthews 39,. An unbroken chain` connected all
liing beings ,Schmidt 186,.
\ildlie was critical to subsistence. 1hough all beings were
belieed to lie together as relaties,` people hunted, ished,
gathered, and snared wild animals-it was the only way they
could surie ,Schmidt 46,. As might be expected, their
mythologies reeal a constant tension between the necessity to
eat and the killing o animals, which |were| belieed to possess
consciousness, will, and soul` ,larrod 63, 159,. Origin myths
oten describe a time when people did not eat anymals, and
explained how this unsaory practice began ,larrod 38-65,.
1he conlict caused by eating kin was resoled through a spiritual
relationship-a relationship guided by religious belies and ritual
acts. 1hereore hunting and ishing were as important spiritually
as nutritionally ,Brown 3, 111, 120,: the ood that gae them
lie was regarded as sacred,` and what was eaten and how it was
acquired took on an importance that transcended surial`
,Schmidt 45-46,. Killing wildlie was a sacred responsibility, and
hunters elt obligated to uphold a code o moral and social
etiquette` that encompasses all creatures ,R. Nelson, Make 228,.
Many indigenous peoples lied in ear o the powers o nature, in
ear o reprisal, should they somehow oend those they
depended on or sustenance. Anymals were iewed as powerul
enough to decide whether or not to allow a hunter to eat.
Anymals were thought to appreciate the needs o others, and
respond accordingly, een permitting their own death ,leit 421,.
lunting, ishing, gathering, and trapping were iewed as spiritual
acts permitted only with the consent o those killed ,Brown 1991:
51,. lunting success or ailure were controlled by anymals.
People could inluence the willingness o anymals to die or
hunters through rituals, taboos, and by maintaining and
displaying a humble and appreciatie attitude ,Schmidt 4,. 1he
hunter reeres the animal, and asks it to make a git o itsel so
that humans can eat, animals comply and gie themseles` to the
worthy hunter ,Preece 166,. \ildlie could only be killed by the
desering with the permission o those killed ,Preece 165,.

1he wildlie ethic o early immigrants, and the rituals and
taboos surrounding that ethic such as asting, prayer, and aoiding
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taboos, relects an understanding o spiritual responsibility connected
with the ominous task o killing kin. Behaing respectully toward
wildlie was thought criticat to surial. lunting, ishing, gathering,
and trapping were necessary, but they were restricted and controlled
by a spiritually based ethic that orbid gratuitous killing. 1he spiritual
power o wildlie, combined with the physical dependence o human
beings, colored the human-wildlie relationship. I people suered
ood shortages they were not apt to say, "I cannot kill deer anymore,"
but rather, "Deer don't want to die or me" ,leizer 1980:211,.


Law And 1radition
ar
lunting, ishing, gathering, and trapping hae been secured
or some early immigrant communities through legal interpretations
and court rulings with regard to treaties. \hen they agreed to settle
on reserations, some LINA groups obtained certain promises in
exchange, such as the right to health care, education, protection, and
permission to maintain certain important subsistence practice
,lonor,. Naturally, they sought to secure the continuance o
practices essential to surial.
Across the United States there hae been a host o legal
cases, ocusing on the wording and intent o the many treaties signed
between the U. S. goernment and early immigrant communities.
Litigation has attempted to outline exactly what these historic
documents grant. In order to better understand these treaties, and
court rulings recently passed, it is instructie to inestigate details
more careully. 1oward this end, I turn to speciic cases in
\ashington State.
Based on a ew key phrases in historic treaties, \ashington
courts hae handed down a handul o diisie rulings. lor instance,
court proceedings established that \ashington`s early immigrants are
legally guaranteed 50 o harestable ish or commercial sale, plus
any ish caught on their own reseration lands, as well as o-
reseration ish or subsistence and ceremonial purposes` ,Madson
,.
ii
1his grants early immigrant communities greater than 50 o
the total ish harest. Similarly, they are legally entitled to 50 o all
harestable wild shellish on \estern \ashington beaches
,Northwest, Shellish`,. LINA, who constitute only 1 o the
population in \ashington State, are now legally entitled to 50 o
the ish and shellish rom \ashington waters and tidelands.
lurthermore, \ashington`s early immigrants are legally entitled to
take shellish rom priately owned tidal lands because their ancestors
gathered shellish on these same lands ,Northwest, Shellish`,. It is
understandable why such rulings hae created anger in the larger
community, there is yet more.
1he U. S. Supreme Court also ruled that methods used by
early immigrants could not be qualiied by any state ,Madson 6,. lor
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example, certain types o nets hae been prohibited, in order to
consere the ish,` yet these restrictions do not apply to LINA,
unless such practices endanger resources` ,Madson ,.
\ith regard to hunting, early immigrants are not restricted by
state laws controlling seasonal hunts, or by killing-limits or a gien
hunt or season. Additionally, LINA are permitted to hunt on ederal
lands such as National lorests ,Northwest, lunting`,. It is not
surprising that early immigrants killed well oer 8 o deer and elk
hunted in \ashington State in 199-oer 400 elk and more than
28,000 deer ,Northwest, lunting`,. 1hey were permitted to kill this
many anymals despite the act that they comprise only 1 o the
population. lad they killed 1, they would hae taken 3, 500 deer.
One group o early immigrants in \ashington State, the
Makah, recently petitioned or the right to engage in a orm o killing
that has been outlawed not just in North America, but increasingly
around the globe: whaling. 1he Makah willingly abandoned whaling
almost a century ago, when other lesh-markets were more lucratie
,Marr 25-33,. 1hough gray whales are still protected, the U.S.
goernment granted the Makah the right to whale. A whale was soon
dispatched in \ashington waters, with modern technologies and
without any eidence o traditional respect or nature ,see below,. In
the U.S. it has been illegal to harass or harm gray whales or a quarter
o a century. lor those who are not Makah, whales remain
protected, and it is illegal een to approach a whale within a certain
parameter.

vterretivg 1reatie.
Lach o these controersial \ashington State rulings
stemmed rom the legal interpretation o ourteen treaties signed in
the mid-nineteenth century. Many decisions reoled around a ew
passages. Article III rom the 1reaty o Medicine Creek,` and
Article IV rom the 1reaty o Neah Bay,` signed with nine Puget
Sound groups and seeral Makah communities respectiely, oer a
sampling o such critical selections:

1he right o taking ish, at all usual and
accustomed grounds and stations, is urther secured to
said Indians in common with all citizens o the
1erritory, and o erecting temporary houses or the
purpose o curing, together with the priilege o
hunting, gathering roots and berries, and pasturing
their horses on open and unclaimed lands. ,United,
Medicine`,

1he right o taking ish and o whaling or
sealing at usual and accustomed grounds and stations
is urther secured to said Indians in common with all
citizens o the United States, and o erecting
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temporary houses or the purpose o curing, together
with the priilege o hunting and gathering roots and
berries on open and unclaimed lands. ,United,
Neah`,

Contemporary court oicials struggled to interpret these
passages as signatory members would hae understood their meaning
,United 356,. Accustomed` and usual` were interpreted in the
standard dictionary manner: customary, amiliar, requent, habituated,
common` was interpreted as or the use o all,` and belonging
equally to more than one indiidual` ,United 356,.
1hose interpreting the treaties applied the phrase usual and
accustomed` to include the historical region` where a particular
group o early immigrants had hunted, ished, gathered, or trapped
,Northwest, Shellish`,. 1hey determined that this holds true een
i those locations were o the reseration` ,Madson 4,. 1his phrase
was also determined to grant usual and accustomed` methods, and
the state or nation was orbidden rom legally qualiying or
challenging methods used. Any qualiications can only be applied o
the reseration, and only with regard to the manner o ishing, and
the size o the take and commercial ishing` when such regulations
are necessary or conseration ,Madson 6,. As a consequence, nets
orbidden to other citizens because o the damage such nets do to
the ecosystem are permissible or LINA.
lrom the phrase in common with` courts ruled that early
immigrants ought to be granted a air share` o the harest. Later,
air share` was clearly delineated as 50 o harestable ish and
shellish ,Madson ,.
Courts ruled that the open and unclaimed lands` clause
entitled early immigrants to practice subsistence on state lands.
Consequently, LINA were permitted to hunt on ederal lands such as
National lorests ,Northwest, lunting`,.
Court rulings in the past twenty-ie years, based on
interpretations o these historic treaties with regard to hunting,
ishing, gathering, and trapping rights, hae become increasingly
controersial as natural resources` dwindle and swarming North
Americans compete or a piece o a sadly diminished pie.

1raaitiov
1he aboe clauses, Article III rom the 1reaty o Medicine
Creek` and Article IV rom the 1reaty o Neah Bay,` reeal how
important historic treaties hae been in establishing the legal
particulars o hunting, ishing, gathering, and trapping among early
immigrants in the contemporary United States. \hat these passages
cannot reeal is exactly what LINA ivtevaea these treaties to secure.
\hen these treaties were signed, what did early immigrants
understand as hunting,` or gathering,` taking ish and o
whaling,` or usual and accustomed` 1reaties granted a

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continuance o traditions that were deemed essential to the surial
and identity o the group, and promised certain priileges ,such as
education, medical care, and cash, in exchange or land ,lonor,.
Such treaties were intended to peaceully ree land in \ashington
1erritory or priate ownership or incoming settlers ,United 355,.
But how are they to be interpreted one hundred and ity years later
Because perceied intent o the parties` was central to legal
interpretations o historic treaties ,Madson 4,, we need to know
precisely what traditions these groups intend to secure when they
signed these particular treaties. \e also need to compare original
intent with modern-day practices and mindsets.
\ith regard to legal rulings and the interpretation o these
treaties, much rests on the deinition o tradition.` 1radition` is
deried rom the Latin traaitio, the act o handing something oer to
another, or o deliering up a possession` ,Gale 1996: 91,. A
traditional act or idea is a long established or inherited way o
thinking or acting` ,\ebster`s 1996,.
1wo aspects o tradition` emerge:
a covtivvivg pattern o actiities
speciic vetboa. employed or these actiities, ivctvaivg
attitudes or ways o thinking.
In common usage, as well as in scholarly works, tradition` generally
reers to vetboa. that hae been covtivvov.t, maintained across
generations.
\et traditions can and do change. Changes in traditions are
incessant` ,Shils 285,. 1raditions constantly merge with new streams
o thought and action. 1hey bend to incorporate new practices, and
shit to accommodate eoling ideas, altered goals, and dierent
circumstances. New patterns o behaior in ast-changing
contemporary societies hold a.ect. o historic tradition, but these new
patterns ultimately orm altogether ver traaitiov..
\hile all behaiors are in some way linked to past thought
and action, obiously not all behaiors are traditional. lor instance,
singing Christmas carols is a traditional part o the holiday season or
many \esterners, but i Karl Marx belted out Away in a Manger` to
the hammering o Led Zeppelin, his caroling` would not qualiy as
traditional,` much less as an historic, cultural tradition.` 1he act o
singing a Christmas carol is not enough to equate Marx`s music with
tradition-a covtivvivg atterv and vetboa., including a belie structure,
are critical.
\hat does this mean or LINA I 1lingits o Southeast
Alaska gie away blankets and hides in the traditional manner o a
potlatch, but do so only because a group o tourists paid >10 per
person to witness the eent, they are not engaged in a traditional
potlatch because neither their methods nor their mindset are
traditional. And i a Makah goes hunting not or ood, but only or
the sake o maintaining a tradition, or or the sake o ostering a
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certain community spirit, they are likewise not engaged in a
traditional hunt, an actiity that was ocused on the body o a whale
itsel, and the many uses o that body. 1raditionally, there was no
expectation that killing a whale might help to sole the communities
ongoing, larger problems. 1here was no thought o killing a whale
simply because that is what their ancestors had done. 1hey killed
whale to acquire a whale, their end goal was the dead whale, which
they employed.
\hat is important about the deinition o tradition` is that
methods entail an inner quality, a mindset-the way people feet about
and evri.iov a particular actiity. lor instance, caroling has
traditionally been iewed as a communal Christian expression o
religious belie and a means o worship. Karl Marx would need more
than a dierent back-up band to qualiy as a traditional` caroler.
Similarly, 1lingits giing away blankets to please tourists, and to
proit rom tourist interest, do not engage in a traditional actiity.
And a 1lingit who gies away 1Vs, computers, and DVDs at a
potlatch may engage in a potlatch or the same rea.ov. as her
ancestors ,with the same thinking, or mindset,, but not with the same
material items. 1radition inoles continuing patterns across time,
including constancy o method and mindset. An early immigrant
embarking on a seasonal hunt in the \ukon with an aluminum motor
boat imported rom Oregon, a steel rile rom \isconsin, and a
plastic compass made in 1aiwan, stretches the term traditional` to
the point o breaking because o radically dierent vetboa. ,physical
means, and mindsets. lunting is no doubt a tradition o that
indiidual`s ancestors-as it once was or all peoples. But a hunt is
by no means traditional` simply because one`s ancestors hunted, or
because one hunts in the same area and at the same time o year as
one`s ancestors.
Gray areas are ineitable. I a deout Catholic pop-singer
sang a Christmas carol accompanied by steel drums and electric
guitars, she might be assumed to hold all the ivver aspects, but none
o the etervat traivg. o traditional caroling, like the 1lingit giing
away 1Vs, computers, and DVDs. And i Karl Marx were to sing a
carol in a church accompanied by a church choir he might be iewed
as haing all the proper etervat aspects, but none o the necessary
ivtervat belie structures, like the 1lingit potlatch perormed or
tourists.
1hese simple examples demonstrate the ambiguity inherent
in our current use o tradition.` But all is not lost, it is possible to
categorize most actiities as either
new traditions: actiities linked to historic traditions but
largely composed o methods deeloped in the past
century and,or lacking core spiritual or philosophical
aspects that once accompanied those actions, or
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a continuance of old traditions: actiities that consist
largely o methods used a century ago, including core
spiritual and philosophical understandings that
accompanied those actions.
\ith this deinition, actions considered traditional` change oer
time. Ater a century o pop Christmas carols, pop caroling might
qualiy as a tradition. But today Madonna would be categorized as
part o a ver tradition, one born in the last ew decades. 1hough gray
areas remain, new traditions must be distinguished rom old i
tradition` is to maintain any meaningul uses. I att o the aboe
examples are considered traditional,` without qualiication, then the
meaning o this word is lost. I a seasonal hunt as carried out or
hundreds o years in North America is traditional` in the same sense
as the \ukon hunter described aboe, then tradition` no longer
entails methods handed down across generations. Such a modern,
high-tech hunt is best iewed as a ver tradition o hunting that has
stemmed rom an historic hunting tradition.
iii


Interpretation And Contemporary 1imes
Deining tradition is the irst critical step. 1he next is to
examine contemporary practices to see whether they are best deined
as traditions,` or as new traditions.`
1he wildlie ethic o early immigrants arose when people in
North America struggled to surie in an enironment that was
bigger and more powerul than human beings, a time when there
were ewer people, only rudimentary technology, and killing wildlie
was essential to human surial. Conditions hae changed. luman
populations hae skyrocketed, and North America now specializes in
sophisticated outdoor equipment, including a prolieration o high-
powered weaponry. North Americans import oil, sugar, and coee,
they trael by A1V, automobile, and aircrat, and they enjoy
computers and teleision, microwaes and reezers. lrom the
northern tip o Alaska to the southern tip o llorida, early
immigrants purchase products rom across the country and around
the world.
1oday`s North American descendants o hunter-gatherer
societies enjoy some o the best medical care in the world.
Populations hae grown accordingly: the Naajo, brutally reduced to
eight thousand in 1868, were ity thousand strong in 1950, eighty-
ie thousand in 1961, and seenty-ie thousand in 1991 ,Brown
1991: 19,. A decimated Makah population o around 550 in 1950 has
more than tripled in just orty years, to around 1,00 in 1991 ,A
Brie`,. 1he lies o early immigrants, as or all North Americans,
are much less apt to be threatened by common iruses, inection, or
childbirth, and hae increased exponentially in the last hal-century.
LINA communities hae generally opted against a traditional
liestyle, yet they are legally granted the right to engage in traditional
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subsistence practices-with sophisticated weaponry and high-tech
ishing gear. 1he results hae sometimes been sobering:
In lebruary o 1998 a single early immigrant rom the
Northwest 1erritories o Canada chased 162 woles to their
deaths on a snowmobile in a single season,` while a dozen other
early immigrants killed 500 more woles during the same time
period ,Preece 166,.
In Southeast Alaska LINA trapped and shot otters nearly to
extinction or the price o their pelts. Because their methods
cannot be regulated, early immigrants continue to use steel-jawed
leghold traps, a deice outlawed by roughly 0 countries around
the world, and an increasing number o U. S. states, because
these traps work indiscriminately and cause extreme suering.
Gillnets hae been judged inexcusably detrimental to the
enironment-trapping een the smallest o ish` ,Preece 16,.
Gillnets are illegal or most ishers, but early immigrants are
legally protected rom such legislation, and continue to choose to
ish with gillnets.
LINA hunt and kill endangered, protected species. A
Seminole gunned down an endangered llorida panther or the
ritual use o panther parts,` nationally protected bald eagles
continue to be shot or eathers ,Schwarz 29, 293,. Just a ew
years ago, along the Olympic Peninsula, the Makah chased and
killed a gray whale, a whale listed as endangered by CI1LS, with
the aid o high-powered boats and weapons, and a helicopter
unded by the U. S. Goernment.
1hese brie descriptions o hunting, ishing, and trapping
practices among early immigrants suice to demonstrate that
methods hae changed rom what they were one hundred and ity
years ago. 1hey also reeal a stunning absence o the traditional
wildlie ethic-eidence o an absence o traditional thinking, an
absence o traditional spirituality. Lach o these instances
demonstrates that hunting methods hae been modernized, and that
a new mentality goes along with such practices. Consequently, each
o these wildlie practices, i they are to be considered traditions,
must be iewed as new traditions. 1hey deinitely do not qualiy as
ancient lie-ways, or as historic traditions.
1oday, instead o struggling to surie physically in a natural
landscape that is large and powerul, early immigrants endeaor to
surie culturally in a crowded world dominated by \estern culture.
1o maintain their identity and a sense o community power, some
early immigrants hae ought or special hunting-gathering priileges
based on historic traditions, historic identities: ishing rights, whaling
rights, trapping rights, and hunting rights. Many such rights hae
been granted, based on treaties that permit the continuance o
traditional means o subsistence. But there has been a noticeable
erosion` o the wildlie ethic, and o traditional practices and belies
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among early immigrants ,Schwarz 291,. In truth, almost nothing
remains o traditional means,` or o the spiritual and philosophical
worldiew that accompanied these actiities. ,lasting, prayer,
honoring taboos, and ritual acts all constitute physical eidence o a
traditional mindset, but ew are practiced in contemporary times.,
Consequently, hunting, ishing, gathering, and trapping
among early immigrants in North America in the year 2001 ails to
qualiy as traditional.` In light o the oerwhelmingly non-
traditional belies and practices o early immigrants today, hunting,
ishing, gathering, and trapping are best iewed as new practices, or
as potential new traditions.`

egat Ravificatiov.
Oicials in U. S. courts attempted to interpret historic treaties
as LINA would hae understood these documents, they endeaored
to make legislation that would protect intent. Intent cuts both ways:
courts granted early immigrants those things that judges belieed
LINA who signed these documents anticipated gaining by adding
their signatures, the courts must also aev, practices that were not
intended by these same signatories. Did these historic peoples
beliee they were protecting their right` to locate whales with
helicopters or sell hundreds o thousands o ish to the highest
bidder
Larly immigrants one hundred and ity years ago, who
secured a continuance o subsistence hunting, ishing, gathering, and
snaring practices ia treaties, could not hae oreseen the ast
commercial enterprises o today. It is extremely unlikely that they
intended to secure the right to hal o the total harestable` ish and
shellish o \ashington State. \ording clearly indicates that
signatories, and those who drew up the treaties, wished to secure the
right o LINA to .vb.i.t a. tbe, baa atra,. .vb.i.tea-to engage in
traditional subsistence practices. 1be ivtevt of tbe.e treatie. ra. to rotect
traaitiovat ractice. tbat roriaea fooa ava ctotbivg for .igvator, eote., vot to
ticev.e vvvece..ar, cov.vvtiov or evrirovvevtatt, vv.ovva ractice..
LINA are neither the irst nor the only people in the US to
stretch the meaning o historic documents. 1he constitutional
guarantee that US citizens be able to keep and bear arms was
important when the nation was young, lacked an oicial military, and
was deended by a militia. \ith the help o those who proit rom
the manuacture and sale o irearms, the original intent o citizen`s
right to keep and bear arms-the protection o citizens-has been
suberted by the prolieration o weaponry that endangers citizens.
Interpreting historic documents is neer an easy matter, and when
there are proits to be had, interpretation becomes een more
problematic.
Nonetheless, we beneit rom examining, understanding, and
honoring the original intent o historic documents. lishing, hunting,
gathering, and trapping practices that ail to qualiy as traditions, as
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deined aboe, are not protected by treaties intended to presere
traaitiovat subsistence practices. lurthermore, where such non-
traditional practices hae been legally protected becav.e o these
treaties, they hae been wrongly protected. Signatories could not
possibly hae intended to protect hunting, ishing, or trapping
outside o traaitiovat practices, vvcb te.. to rotect ractice. tbat actvatt,
breacb tbeir traaitiovat ritatife etbic.
Indiiduals engaging in traditional subsistence practices ought
to be protected by these treaties. 1hose who no longer retain
subsistence traditions, complete with traditional spirituality, ought to
abide by all laws regulating hunting, ishing, and trapping or non-
LINA citizens.

.roriate to 1oaa,.
\hile scholars hae amassed considerable material on
relations between ancient peoples and anymals, they hardly eer
address questions pertaining to animal welare and the animal as
subject` ,Noske 183,. Scholars busy recording minute details o how
people interact with the natural world, hae seldom questioned-let
alone challenged-such behaiors. Len i the LINA wildlie ethic
and the practices that once accompanied this ethic rere liing
traditions, it is not only reasonable but essential to question whether
such practices are appropriate in contemporary times. 1his urther
inquiry proides a no` on two counts: inherent danger and lack o
necessity:
1. 1he wildlie ethic o early immigrants in North America
portrays anymals as powerul, in control o their own death,
perpetually sel-regenerating, and as rigbtt, killed because their death
is essential to human surial, and because they willingly consent to
death. 1he LINA wildlie ethic oers a spiritual iew in which
animals must be killed or people to surie, and so animals
acquiesce to being killed, and then return to oer themseles yet
again. In this iew killing wildlie is always justiied-sanctioned by
the dead, and the dead neer really die because they return to lie. In
any eent, hunting cannot be aoided.
In times gone by, when early immigrants lied more closely
with anymals, their wildlie ethic oered some way to harmonize
their discordant reality: killing one`s kin to proide sustenance. 1heir
belie structure mitigated guilt and proided a spiritual understanding
o wild anymals that allowed people to both respect and kill those
they iewed as close kin.
1imes change, and so do people. Such spiritual practices as
prayer, asting, and the maintenance o taboos and rituals, outward
signs o the ancient wildlie ethic o kinship and respect or wildlie,
are now conspicuously absent rom LINA hunting. Gien
contemporary irepower, motorized methods, and increasing human
populations, a wildlie ethic that justiies killing as necessary, and as
sanctiied by the one killed, is extremely dangerous.
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One might legitimately argue that such a wildlie ethic verer
proided adequate saeguards against human misuse and abuse o
anymals. It is easy to list a myriad o early immigrant actiities, now
readily identiied as cruel and enironmentally unsound, that existed
long beore Luropeans crossed the Atlantic. 1he Koyukon hunted
down and killed rare animals on site ,Nelson 1983: 28, 112-113,,
LINA in the Southwest ritually killed deer and eagles by suocation
,Brown 1991: 4, Preece 193,, throwing stones at birds and shooting
squirrels were customary pastimes among the Sioux ,Preece 94,.
James Swan, who lied among the Makah between 1863 and 1866
commented: 1hey howeer are cruel to all animals, and particularly
birds, which they torture in eery conceiable manner` ,15,.
listorically, the list o ethically suspect and enironmentally unsound
LINA wildlie practices is considerable.
An ethic that considers killing animals essential, that iews
animals as complaisant in their own killing, and as neer really dying,
is inherently dangerous to wildlie.
2. 1he LINA wildlie ethic recalls a time when people had to
hunt to surie-tbe, baa vo cboice. lunting, ishing, gathering, and
trapping were their ovt, means o surial, without the hides and lesh
o anymals, human beings in North America would hae perished.
1he wildlie ethic o early immigrants condoned killing when
necessary, but otherwise eschewed the taking o wildlie.
Unnecessary killing was a symptom o disrespect, an attitude that
would cause animals to be unwilling to die. 1his, in turn, would
result in human staration. 1his spiritual ision is perectly
reasonable: I would lay down my lie or my kin i there was no other
way or them to surie. vt rovta be .oret, ai.aoivtea if tbi. gevero.it,
ra. tater v.ea to ;v.tif, /ittivg ve rbev tbe veea baa a..ea. LINA today,
like other North Americans, need nothing more than resh-rozen,
canned, and packaged oods, or the resh produce that many groups
can grow. Rather than purchase ammunition and weapons, hunting
gear and outdoor paraphernalia, early immigrants can buy or grow
additional plant-based ood supplies. \ith the adent o adanced
agricultural techniques, rerigeration, and extensie transportation,
subsistence killing is obsolete or 99 o North Americans ,Luke
33,. Consequently, almost all early immigrants who hunt, ish, or
trap in contemporary times abrogate the traditional wildlie ethic, an
ethic based on taking only what is necessary or surial.
At the core o the LINA wildlie ethic lies a belie structure
that rejects almost all hunting in contemporary times: nature as
sacred, anymals as spiritual guides and kin, harmony and balance,
killing only when one must kill to surie. 1hese underlying spiritual
belies must be acknowledged as more undamental than any actions
rooted in these core belies, such as the historic practices o hunting,
ishing, gathering, and trapping. LINA core belies and alues reeal
that the ancient wildlie ethic has become suberted in contemporary
times, and that this ethic is now used to justiy the raw act o
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killing-killing that lacks almost eery estige o tradition because it
is now unnecessary or surial.
\hile hunting and ishing might remain the referrea liestyle
or some, LINA who hunt, ish, gather, or trap anymals abrogate
their traditional wildlie ethic, one that iewed anymals as spiritually
powerul kin, neer to be harmed unless harm was necessary. LINA
today ought to iew lesh-eating as inherently destructie and
wasteul becav.e tbere i. vo tovger av, veea to eat avivat roavct. of av,
/iva.
i


ovva Core
One might argue that the extensie cruelty and iolence
caused by Christians down through history proe that the teachings
o Jesus are inherently dangerous. But people oten twist or ignore
spiritual belies to suit personal ends. 1he ast majority o Christians
agree that the core o Christianity is an ethic o loe and compassion,
i one is motiated by loe and compassion, then the ethic that
ollows, and one`s resultant actions, are not apt to damage others.
1he same is true or the wildlie ethic o early immigrants. 1he
enironmentally unsound behaiors o early immigrants stem rom a
tac/ o spiritual depth, rather than rom an inherently deicient ethic.
\hen taken in its entirety, with an emphasis on core betief. that gviae
ava regvtate actiov., the LINA wildlie ethic speaks against
contemporary practices, against any unnecessary killing.
Kinship with anymals is primary or early immigrants
,Schmidt 463,. 1he core o the LINA wildlie ethic is a worldiew in
which all the world, and eery act within the world, is sacred, in
which powerul wildlie kin, who are similar to humans in
undamental and important ways, choose to die so that humans
might subsist. 1his core belie aoe. vot allow or gratuitous killing, or
cruel and painul deaths, but aoe. hold the inherent assumption that
to kill wildlie-kin-unnecessarily is grieously wrong.
1his core belie system remains strong or some early
immigrants. A Koyukon liing in the ar north recently wrote,
"Sometimes people will hunt the loon, but me, I don't like to kill it. I
like to listen to it all I can and pick up the words it knows" ,Nelson
1983: 8,. 1his contemporary LINA writer reeals a sense o
camaraderie with the loon, knowledge that there is no need to kill his
remarkable relatie, and an unwillingness to harm his eathered kin
unnecessarily.
1his iew is supported by some conetmoprary LINA. Makah
elders Isabell Ides ,age 96,, larry Claplonhoo , 8,, Margaret Iring
,80,, Ruth Claplanhoo ,94,, Viola Johnson ,88,, Alberta N
1hompson ,2,, and Lena McGee ,92, openly spoke out against
reestablishing the Makah whale hunt. It would be one thing i the
whale meat were truly needed,` 1hompson remarked, as in the
times o the ancestors. But that is no longer true today` ,Dunagan,
1ribal`,. Other Makah agreed, including Viian Lawrence, Mabel
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Smith, Dottie Chamblin, and Jesse Ides, who asked, \hat will
killing a whale accomplish or the Makah` ,\atson,.
Lnironmental organizations proided space in the Peninsula Daily
News, or Makah elders to speak their minds:

\e are elders o the Makah Indian Nation ,Ko-
Ditch-ee-ot, which means People o the Cape. \e oppose
this \hale hunt our tribe is going to do.
.1he \hale hunt issue has neer been brought to
the people to inorm them and there is no spiritual training
going on. \e beliee they, the Council, will just shoot the
\hale, and we think the word "subsistence" is the wrong
thing to say when our people haen't used or had \hale
meat,blubber since the early 1900's.
lor these reasons we beliee the hunt is only or the
money. 1hey can't say "1raditional, Spiritual and or
Subsistence" in the same breath when no training is going on,
just talk.
\hale watching is an alternatie we support. ,Ides,

Contemporary examples such as these demonstrate how the
historic LINA wildlie ethic, where people kill only out o need, can
be applied consistently in contemporary times. 1hose who suggest
that early immigrant traditions require one to hunt or ish ail to
distinguish core teacbivg. ,method and mindset, rom contemporary
actiov.. 1hose who iew the LINA wildlie ethic as condoning
contemporary hunting, ishing, gathering shellish, or trapping are
ocused on acts ovt of covtet-acts that were once essential to
surial, acts that were shaped and controlled by the spiritual
understanding o kinship. 1he unsatisactory nature o haing to kill
one`s kin to surie was eidenced by early immigrant myths that
pined ater an ancient time when people did not kill anymals or
ood. An opportunity to reestablish this ancient, peaceul time has, at
last, come again.


Arrogance Or Dialogue?
Subsistence killing was once critical or surial. 1oday, most
LINA no longer need to kill anymals, yet such slaughter is legally
secured based on recent interpretations o historic treaties that
protect traditional subsistence practices. Most hunting, ishing,
gathering, and trapping in contemporary times are traditional neither
in the general nor the speciic sense o the word, these practices are
best understood as part o a new tradition, not protected by treaties,
intended to secure historic subsistence practices.
Many might think it arrogant or one person, or group o
people, to ind ault with another. Such outsider` attacks are not
politically correct-especially against a group o people so
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beleaguered by whites. Is it right or someone o Luropean descent
to criticize LINA Is it right or someone o Asian descent Is it
right or Protestants to criticize Catholics, or men to criticize
women-or isa ersa
At least in the world o academics, critical analysis need not
be concerned with race, gender, or age-or with what is politically
correct. Philosophers in particular support a ree exchange o ideas,
encourage replies, and ongoing dialogue. I there is to be any hope
o global peace, any hope or steady human adancement to better
ways o liing, critical analysis and dialogue across genders, races, and
borderlines are essential.
Open communication becomes yet more critical when
suering and loss o lie are the topic at hand. ^o ove is beyond
reproach when it comes to practices that cost the lies o any liing
being, no one is aboe criticism when they engage in behaiors that
terriy or harm. It was the Northern US that reed the South rom
slaery, part o Lurope and the US that reed the rest o Lurope
rom Nazi rule, and outside law enorcement that many hope will
ree any uture cult members rom the grip o people like Jim Jones,
Daid Koresh, and the duo Joseph Kibwetere and Credonia
Mwerinde. It is outsiders that criticize and disrupt practices such as
incest, neglect, and the battering o wies. Is it reasonable to beliee
that outsider ought not to intrude into the lies o amilies rie with
iolence or neglect simply because they are outsiders Neither
amilies nor cultures are immune to scrutiny or criticism, nor .bovta
they be i their behaiors bring misery or death to others.
lor those who are inormed, to bill contemporary LINA
hunting, trapping, or ishing practices as traditions,`
regardless o practices used, regardless o the mindset and
purpose behind these actions, is wrongheaded. 1he word
tradition` has a speciic meaning, and anything reerred to as
a tradition` ought to it this deinition. It matters little
whether the person who notes this wrongul use o a word is
pink, tall, or oreign - such critical terms should always be
exposed or scrutiny.
It is preerable i pressure or change originates rom within,
but this is oten not the case, and the color o one`s skin,
religion or nationality, gender or culture, should neer
preent us rom stepping up to the plate to consider and
reconsider possible cases o abuse or deception. Such
criticism is, ater all, only criticism: it is not an end in itsel,
only a beginning. Criticism inites a response-an initation
to dialogue.

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i
ACL represents ater the common era` while BCL stands or beore
the common era.` Both terms are preerable or a dierse audience as they aoid
the reerence to a time-rame rooted in Christian theology ,BC and AD,.

ii
larestable` ish are those that remain ater deducting those necessary
or spawning escapement and tribal subsistence and ceremonial needs ,Madson ,.

iii
A tendency to idealize the historic liestyle o early immigrants uels
widely held misconceptions, and is accompanied by a strong yearning or the lost
liestyle o idealized peoples. Some people try to retvrv to this imagined, idyllic past.
Current attempts to reie an idealized past can and do create ver
traditions` based on what is erceirea as historic ,Shils 44-46,. 1hese lieways are
no less important than older ways to those who practice such new traditions.`

i
A egan diet that aoids all animal products is nutritionally sound.
Modern medicine has linked the consumption o animal products to at least thirty
medical problems including heart disease, cancer, and osteoporosis ,Robbins,.
1here is now a multitude o eidence demonstrating that the consumption o
animal products is completely unnecessary, and een contrary to optimal human
health. lor more inormation, search egan nutrition` on the net, or try
http:,,www.goegetarian.org,, http:,,www.eatright.org,adap119.html,
http:,,www.eganoutreach.org,w,w3.html or http:,,www.egsoc.org,health,.
lor the purpose o this paper, my point is that it is unnecessary to exploit anymals
in contemporary North America or subsistence.